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This week's “shooting rampage” in the gUn-happy States of America

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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« on: March 12, 2009, 10:26:05 pm »

From the Los Angeles Times

Alabama gunman recalled as ‘friendly with everyone’

Michael McLendon's rampage left 11 dead, including himself and his mother.
He is remembered as well-liked by co-workers, but he might also have been
seeking vengeance for perceived slights.


By Richard Fausset | Thursday, March 12, 2009

RAMPAGE: Michael Kenneth McLendon shot dead 10 people, including his mother, before killing himself after a gunbattle with police and a car chase down a rural highway in Southern Alabama. REUTERS.

RAMPAGE: Michael Kenneth McLendon shot dead 10 people,
including his mother, before killing himself after a gunbattle
with police and a car chase down a rural highway in
Southern Alabama. — REUTERS


Reporting from Samson, Alabama — First, he killed his mother.

That, according to Alabama officials, was the first chilling act in Michael Kenneth McLendon's trail of carnage across southern Alabama on Tuesday. He killed 10 people, injured six and left a string of small communities wondering what motivated a quiet young man to obliterate the peaceful rhythms of rural Southern life in March.

"He was just friendly with everyone, and kind of stayed to himself," said Jessica Wise, 27, who graduated from high school with McLendon in 1999. "That's why this is such a shock."

But other details emerged Wednesday of a depressed and troubled young man who was obsessed with guns — and who may have been seeking vengeance, or was possibly frustrated by a romantic relationship.

McLendon, of Coffee County, killed himself at a metal-louver factory in Geneva, where he had previously worked. He was 28.

Last Wednesday, he quit his assembly line job at Kelley Foods of Alabama Inc., a rural meat-packing and food distribution company, said Erik Ennis, the human resources manager.

Lynn Hughes of Coffee County said her sister, who works at the plant, had said that McLendon had complained recently about being teased by co-workers, and may have been having girlfriend trouble.

Many could hardly believe that McLendon was the man responsible for it all. Older residents remembered watching the well-behaved and quiet boy pitch in Little League.

Jerry Hysmith, 35, a co-worker at the louver factory, recalled him as a shy but thoughtful man — the only one to offer him a ride home when his car died.

Like others in town, Hysmith said McLendon was fond of guns. But he didn't think much of it in an area where hunting talk, like football talk, is a stock male ritual.

"It was nothing where a red flag would go up," Hysmith said. "He never said anything about hurting anyone."

Elsewhere in the county, grief was mixed with a kind of confusing shock. Many here knew both the shooter and the victims.

At a packed service Wednesday night at First Baptist Church of Samson on Main Street, a guest preacher from Birmingham, Steve Sellers, paraphrased from the Book of Matthew: "It rains on the just, and it rains on the unjust."

Early Wednesday, Gary L. McAliley, district attorney for Coffee and Pike counties, said investigators found notes at McLendon's mother's house that might have been lists of "people who had done him wrong." A statement by state investigators later denied that McLendon had left "hit lists."

State investigators said in a statement late Wednesday that recent developments "may direct them to a motive" for the shootings. But they did not say what that motive might be.

McLendon apparently set the house near Kinston in rural Coffee County ablaze after shooting his mother, Lisa White McLendon, 52, in the head and killing her dogs.

McLendon then took off down state Highway 52 in a little red Mitsubishi, passing bucolic scenes of ryegrass, cows and hay bales. He was wearing khaki pants and a vest with ammunition pockets. He was also loaded with weapons: two assault rifles, a shotgun, a .38-caliber handgun, a Russian semiautomatic carbine, and a military-style Bushmaster rifle.

In the late afternoon, he pulled into Samson, a sleepy farming hub where the big news, before he arrived, was the upcoming start of turkey hunting season.

McLendon drove a few blocks off of Main Street, and pulled in front of a little white house with a porch. He killed five people there.

They included his uncle, James Alford White, 55; his cousin Tracy Michelle Wise, 34; and his second cousin Dean James Wise, 15. Also killed on the porch were neighbors Andrea D. Myers, 31, and Corinne Gracy Myers, the wife and 18-month-old daughter of Geneva County Sheriff's Deputy Josh Myers. McLendon also injured the deputy's 4-month-old daughter, who is in stable condition at a Pensacola, Fla., hospital.

He shot and killed his 74-year-old grandmother, Virginia E. White, as she came to the door of the adjacent house. Tom Knowles, 51, who watched from nearby, said McLendon got out and chased one survivor, shooting at her numerous times and missing.

McLendon drove away from the house, then returned moments later after Knowles had stepped forward to help the victims. Knowles looked in McLendon's face and noticed it was impassive.

"He had that gun aimed at me, and I hollered at him," he said. "I said, ‘I ain't done nothing to you, and I don't know you’."

Elsewhere in town, McLendon shot more victims who officials say may have been randomly chosen.

He killed a man walking down a side street, James Irvin Starling, 24, and injured a man on Main Street, Jeffrey Lynn Nelson, 50.

At a gas station, he killed Sonja Smith, 43, and injured Greg McCullough. Both were near the gas pumps.

Rita Creech, 49, was working at the gas station's deli when she heard two shots ring out. She opened the door and saw McLendon drive up in the red car, firing out of the driver's side window.

"He just pulled up there and started shooting," she said.

Then he drove off toward Geneva, the next significant town to the east. "I could hear him a-shootin', all the way downtown," Creech said.

Like many people in this county of about 25,000, Creech later realized that she knew McLendon — she said she had worked with him at a bakery a couple of years ago.

On the highway, McLendon killed a motorist: Bruce Wilson Malloy, 51. When a state trooper caught up to him, McLendon fired at least seven rounds into the trooper's car, injuring him slightly.

In Geneva, the county seat, city police tried to stop him in front of the Wal-Mart. He shot and injured one officer, and shot Police Chief Frankie Lindsey in the shoulder.

He ended up at Reliable Products, from which he had quit in 2003; according to company officials, he left a perfectly adequate work record.

He got out of the car, exchanged fire with officers, and ran into the building. Gunshots were heard within. Soon after, he was found dead from a self-inflicted wound.

Officials said McLendon, who briefly worked as a police officer before failing to complete his academy training, fired more than 200 rounds along the way.

In the charred remains of his mother's house, where he lived part time, investigators found boxes of ammunition and camping and survivalist supplies.

Esker Chambless Jr., 70, a neighbor, remembered the young man doing a lot of target practice with a Glock pistol that Chambless admired.

On Tuesday, Chambless stopped by McLendon's mother's house about 2 p.m. He had promised McLendon's mother that he'd help her till a garden.

McLendon met him in the front yard and pointed out where he should do the tilling, instructing him to stop just before the grave of a family dog.

Chambless said McLendon was polite to a fault.

The district attorney said his mother may have already been dead inside.

About an hour later, Chambless returned and found the house in flames, and McLendon gone.


richard.fausset@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-alabama-shootings12-2009mar12,0,4132309,full.story
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AnFaolchu
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100th (Gordon) Highlanders 1794


« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2009, 12:58:50 am »

There was one by a teenager in Germany too at about the same time
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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« Reply #2 on: March 17, 2009, 01:53:55 pm »


Five killed in Miami murder-suicide

REUTERS | Monday, 16 March 2009

A man shot and killed four people before taking his own life early on Sunday in Miami, police said.

A sergeant with the Miami Police Department's homicide division said the man, wielding a semi-automatic handgun, killed three females and a male inside a house in the city's Little Havana district shortly after midnight.

He then drove away and turned the gun on himself at his home, which he had apparently set on fire, about 3 miles away.

"It was domestic-related," the sergeant said. "The wife left him and he tracked her down, unfortunately."

He declined to elaborate, saying the case was still under investigation.

In Alabama last week, near that state's southeast border with Florida, a man shot and killed 10 people including his mother, grandmother, uncle and two cousins, before shooting himself dead.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/2265195/Five-killed-in-Miami-murder-suicide
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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« Reply #3 on: March 28, 2009, 05:27:08 pm »


From the Los Angeles Times

State mourns three slain Oakland police officers

Law enforcement officials from across California express their sorrow and offer prayers for the officers' families. Officials say five officers were shot, with three killed and one in grave condition.

By Maria L. La Ganga and Anna Gorman | Sunday, March 22, 2009

SCENE: Alameda County Sheriff deputies guard a scene where Oakland police officers were shot. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

  SCENE: Alameda County Sheriff deputies guard a scene where Oakland police officers were shot.
                                                             (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)


Reporting from Los Angeles and Oakland — In one of the deadliest police shootings in California history, three Oakland officers were killed and a fourth gravely wounded in two incidents Saturday that began with a routine traffic stop, police officials said.

The violence began at 1:08 p.m. when two motorcycle officers pulled over a 1995 Buick on MacArthur Boulevard in east Oakland. At 1:16 p.m., a call came into the department saying two officers were down and needed medical attention. The driver had stepped out of the car and fired at the officers before fleeing into the neighborhood, authorities said.

Police launched a "very extensive manhunt," said department spokesman Jeff Thomason. Several streets were blocked off and a helicopter flew overhead. Police then received a tip that a possible suspect was barricaded inside a nearby apartment building.

About 3:20 p.m., SWAT officers entered the multiunit building on 74th Avenue, down the street from the first shootings. Authorities said the suspect immediately fired at officers with an assault weapon, hitting three of them. SWAT officers "returned fire in defense of their lives," Jordan said.

Killed were Sgt. Mark Dunakin, 40; Sgt. Ervin Romans, 43; and Sgt. Daniel Sakai, 35. Officer John Hege, 41, was in grave condition at Highland Hospital late Saturday. The fifth officer, who was not identified Saturday, was treated and released.

The gunman, Lovelle Mixon, 27, was also killed. He was wanted on a no-bail warrant for violating his parole on a conviction of assault with deadly weapon.

Saturday's violence was among the worst incidents of its kind since 1970, when four California Highway Patrol officers were killed in a shootout in Newhall. The officers had tracked down two gun-waving suspects who had been threatening motorists.

Thomason said that the investigation is ongoing but that officers were "not searching for anybody else right now."

"It is in these moments that words are extraordinarily inadequate," Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums said. "We come together in shock and grief and sadness and sorrow."

Oakland Police Department Acting Chief Howard A. Jordan said "everyone is pouring out their hearts," referring to the panel of civic leaders behind him at a news conference Saturday night, including Dellums and state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, a former Oakland mayor. Jordan said handling the deaths will be a "traumatic and daunting task" but praised the resilience of his 800-officer department.

Oakland has long been known as a violence-plagued city where crime rates have soared in recent years, rising at least 40% since 2004.

The shootings Saturday occurred near the Eastmont police substation, where pawnshops, check-cashing stands and storefront churches line the street. By evening, the area was still cordoned off with yellow police tape. Residents had to show identification before police would allow them to return to their homes.

Jermaine Jackson, 23, who lives nearby, said he was at home when the shootings occurred.

"I came outside and I heard probably 10 gunshots," Jackson said.

Unfortunately, he said, gun violence is not uncommon in his neighborhood. "I don't feel safe at all," he said. "You don't know who will shoot you."

Yolanda Johnson, 58, was working at a pawnshop on MacArthur when she heard the shots. "I've been working here for 18 years," she said. "This area is pretty bad and it's not getting better. It's so sad that happened to those officers."

K. Lowe, 40, who was walking his pit bull two blocks from the crime scene, said he was not surprised by the brazen shooting.

"It's a hot spot," he said. "This is just another day in the 'hood. It's sad, but what can you do? It's a doggone shame."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a written statement that Saturday was a "tragic day for law enforcement officers everywhere." Capitol flags will be flown at half-staff in honor of the officers.

"All four officers dedicated their lives to public safety and selflessly worked to protect the people of Oakland," he said. "Maria and I join the Bay Area in remembering their service and honoring their sacrifice."

Oakland City Councilwoman Desley Brooks, whose district includes the area, said her heart was with the officers' relatives.

"Our prayers go out to all of the families of all the officers," she said. "They do such a tremendous service. And I can't even find words beyond what I have just said."

Oakland City Atty. John Russo called the deaths "senseless."

"We didn't lose four officers in the earthquakes or the worst of the fires," he said. "You want to find meaning in it. It underscores what a difficult job it is to be a police officer."

The officers' deaths also saddened law enforcement officers throughout the state.

"We join our fellow police officers in praying for the families and friends whose hearts ache for their lost loved ones," Paul M. Weber, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said in a statement. "The murder rampage today in Oakland should serve as a reminder that every day police officers bravely protect our families, friends, and neighbors from crime."

The last death of an on-duty Oakland police officer was in 2004 when William Seuis, 39, was killed in a hit-and-run crash on motorcycle patrol. Another officer, William Wilkins, 29, was mistakenly shot by two rookie officers in 2001 while he was undercover.

Police agencies in Oakland have been wracked by controversy in recent months.

A few weeks ago, Oakland Police Chief Wayne Tucker left the department in the wake of criticism. Tucker announced his resignation in late January as the City Council — frustrated by rising crime and negative publicity — planned to call for a vote of no confidence.

Tucker, who served as chief for more than four years, was blasted for his management of the department and possible missteps in the investigation of the murder of journalist Chauncey Bailey.

Earlier this year, racially-tinged riots erupted in Oakland as a result of a shooting by another police agency. An on-duty transit police officer was seen on video shooting an unarmed man in the back at the Fruitvale BART station. The officer, Johannes Mehserle, who is white, was charged with murder in the death of Oscar J. Grant III, who was black.


• Cara Mia DiMassa, Rong-Gong Lin II, Ruben Vives and Carol J. Williams contributed to this report.

maria.laganga@latimes.com

anna.gorman@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-oakland-police-shooting22-2009mar22,0,4815395,full.story
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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« Reply #4 on: March 28, 2009, 05:28:10 pm »


From the Los Angeles Times

Mournful calm follows Oakland gun battle

Flowers are placed at makeshift memorials across the city as relatives of the dead — four police officers and the gunman — remain 'shocked' at the ‘extraordinary’ violence that broke out Saturday.

By Maria L. La Ganga and Peter H. King | Monday, March 23, 2009

Law enforcement officers find cover behind a car in Oakland while responding to the day's second shooting in which officers were shot. (Dan Rosenstrauch/Bay Area News Group)

     Law enforcement officers find cover behind a car in Oakland while responding to the day's second shooting
                                       in which officers were shot. (Dan Rosenstrauch/Bay Area News Group)


The Oakland police officers who died in the shootings were, from left: Sgt. Mark Dunakin, 40; Sgt. Ervin Romans, 43; and Sgt. Daniel Sakai, 35. Officer John Hege, 41, right, was declared brain-dead Sunday at Highland Hospital.<br />(Oakland Police Department)

            The Oakland police officers who died in the shootings were, from left: Sgt. Mark Dunakin, 40;
                              Sgt. Ervin Romans, 43; and Sgt. Daniel Sakai, 35. Officer John Hege, 41, right, was
                                 declared brain-dead Sunday at Highland Hospital. (Oakland Police Department)


Reporting from Oakland — It was early Saturday afternoon, and Curtis Mixon was talking with his 26-year-old nephew. Lovelle Shawn Mixon had called on a cellphone from his newly purchased 1995 Buick as he drove through east Oakland.

"Vel said the police was pulling him over," the 38-year-old medical records clerk recalled Sunday. "He said, ‘I just pulled over’."

The uncle listened as his nephew — stopped on MacArthur Boulevard less than two blocks from a police station and around the corner from his sister's apartment — spoke with a motorcycle officer and searched for his driver's license and registration.

Mixon told his uncle he would have to call him back.

He never did.

What followed was an almost inexplicable chain of events that left Mixon and four Oakland police officers dead and sent this city into an all-too-familiar ritual of municipal grief and self-examination.

According to authorities and witnesses, Mixon opened fire as two motorcycle officers stood behind his car, apparently checking his papers. He had been released from prison in November and was wanted for an alleged parole violation.

Sgt. Mark Dunakin, 40, died despite a citizen's efforts to revive him.

Officer John Hege, 41, was taken to Highland Hospital, where he was declared brain-dead Sunday.

While police swarmed the neighborhood, Mixon escaped around the corner to 74th Avenue in a residential neighborhood of bungalows, many with pit bulls fenced in the front yard. He shook on the locked back door of one house, startling the young girl inside, and then ducked into the ground floor of his sister Enjoli Mixon's apartment building.

Inside the apartment, another sister, 16-year-old Reynete Mixon, was unaware that her brother had returned. In an interview, she said she was in the bathroom when a SWAT team kicked down the door after a two-hour manhunt.

"I was yelling at them that I was in the house," Reynete said Sunday afternoon in front of her grandmother's modest Oakland home not far from where the shootings occurred. "They didn't really try to figure out who I was or if there was someone inside the house."

Across the hall, neighbor Mya Moore heard a crash on a door and a young girl shout, "Stop, wait!" Then came an explosion and rapid bursts of gunfire.

Peeking through her front window, the 27-year-old Oakland native saw one police officer, his head split open by gunfire, being dragged by officers through the building's main door to the sidewalk. Another was carried out to a police SUV and rushed away.

Ervin Romans, 43, and Daniel Sakai, 35, both sergeants and SWAT team members, did not survive, and as the gunfire subsided Moore could hear the agonized cries of officers as they absorbed the toll of a brief but furious gun battle: "I heard one of them saying, ‘It's not looking good. It's not looking good’."

Moore could hear other officers shouting commands to Mixon's sister. She said there had been "a lot" of shooting "on both sides, from him and from them." Oakland Police Department spokesman Jeff Thomason said Mixon was armed with an assault weapon in the apartment shootout. He would not say what kind of weapon was used in the earlier shooting.

City left reeling

On Sunday, news crews, neighbors and passersby roamed around the shooting sites, trying to make sense of the carnage. Votive candles and flowers were placed about the neighborhood, on the sidewalk where the motorcycle sergeant died, in front of the apartment and at the Eastmont substation two blocks away.

Bouquets also were piled up outside police headquarters downtown. In the lobby, officers set up an easel with a poster of Sgts. Dunakin, Sakai and Romans. A freshly printed black T-shirt emblazoned with their pictures arrayed on a background of clouds hung from the easel. Across the top was printed "Rest in Peace, March 21, 2009."

Thomason would not disclose any details about the ongoing investigation of the shootings, but he said that funds are being set up to help the families of the dead officers. He choked up during a Sunday news conference when he was asked to describe Hege. Then he turned and walked to the elevator.

At midday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger drove up to the Oakland Police Officers Assn. building to meet privately with Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, assorted police officers and state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, a former Oakland mayor. He stayed about 10 minutes, then left without saying a word to reporters.

Afterward, Dellums stated that the city "is reeling today from the senseless shootings of four Oakland police officers yesterday afternoon who were killed in the line of duty protecting our community's right to live in safety and in peace."

A dangerous job

John R. Hege's father, John S. Hege, said in a telephone interview later Sunday that his son, a former Eagle Scout and high school physical education teacher, loved being a police officer.

"He wanted to be an Oakland policeman. I think that's what he most wanted to do," Hege said.

Mixon, according to authorities, had a long criminal history. In addition to a conviction for assault with a deadly weapon, he had earlier convictions for marijuana possession, auto theft and a string of violations committed as a juvenile, Thomason said.

He had served nine months in prison for identity theft, forgery and grand theft before being released in November. According to state prison officials, Mixon missed a mandatory meeting with his agent last month and was deemed a "parolee at large." A warrant was issued for his arrest.

It is not unusual for parole officers to lose contact with their charges. At least 164, or 11%, of parolees assigned to Oakland's three parole divisions were considered at large last week, according to a report by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

"When they do abscond, the department lacks the resources to track them down, and it's very hard to find people in a vast urban environment," said Ryken Grattet, a UC Davis professor who has written extensively about California's parole system.

"What just happened in Oakland is really an extraordinary event," Grattet said. "Even for this fairly hardened criminal population, this type of violence is really extraordinary."

Family is ‘shocked’

Mary Mixon, 65, Lovelle and Reynete's grandmother, said Saturday's violence had left the family "shocked, shocked, shocked." Lovelle had lived with her since December, she said, and had been depressed recently because of a dispute with his parole officer.

"Our condolences go to the families" of the dead officers, she said as she headed to the Alameda County morgue, where her grandson's body lay. "I know what they must be going through. No words can explain."

The violence Saturday was among the worst of its kind since 1970, when four California Highway Patrol officers were killed in a shootout in Newhall.

In the neighborhood where the shootings occurred, there were mixed responses. Some said that such violence seemed out of character with that particular slice of east Oakland. Others said it was all too much part of the terrain.

"I do not walk in fear," said pastor Jeremiah Captain, standing on the corner of 74th and MacArthur. The wind had wrapped a strand of police tape around his right ankle. "I have the Lord, and Oakland is one of the most beautiful places to live in the world."

The last death of an on-duty Oakland police officer was in 2004 when William Seuis, 39, was killed in a hit-and-run crash on motorcycle patrol. Another officer, William Wilkins, 29, was mistakenly shot by two rookie officers in 2001 while he was working undercover.

Police agencies in Oakland have faced controversy in recent months. Oakland Police Chief Wayne Tucker announced his resignation in late January as the City Council — unhappy with rising crime and negative publicity — intended to call for a vote of no confidence.

And earlier this year, racially charged riots erupted in Oakland because of a shooting by another police agency. An on-duty transit police officer was seen on video shooting an unarmed man in the back at a BART station. Officer Johannes Mehserle, who is white, was charged with murder in the death of Oscar J. Grant III, who was black.


• Times staff writers Ari B. Bloomekatz, Anna Gorman, Rong-Gong Lin II, Cara Mia DiMassa, Garrett Therolf, Ruben Vives and Carol J. Williams contributed to this report.

maria.laganga@latimes.com

peter.king@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-oakland-shootings23-2009mar23,0,3106859,full.story
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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« Reply #5 on: March 28, 2009, 05:29:41 pm »


From the Los Angeles Times

Oakland police mourned by family, fellow officers and dignitaries

The city's 800-strong police force, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and both of the state's senators attend the funeral of Mark Dunakin, John Hege, Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai.

By Ann M. Simmons and Peter H. King | Friday, March 27, 2009

The flag-draped caskets of the four slain Oakland police officers at their funeral. (Tony Avelar/Pool)

          The flag-draped caskets of the four slain Oakland police officers at their funeral.
                                                                (Tony Avelar/Pool)


Reporting from Los Angeles and Oakland — Mourners jammed the 19,000-seat Oracle Arena in Oakland today to pay their respects to four Oakland police officers killed by a parolee after a routine traffic stop turned into a manhunt and gun battle.

Hundreds of law enforcement personnel and government officials from across the nation and Canada joined family and friends of the slain officers: Mark Dunakin, John Hege, Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai. The entire 800-strong Oakland police force attended, wearing black tape stretched diagonally across their badges. Many sniffed back tears.

Inside the arena, the four-sided scoreboard that in basketball games hangs over center court showing replays of spectacular dunks and posting player fouls was running a slide show of photos of the four officers. They included pictures of them in SWAT training, hiking in the Sierra Mountains, schoolboy pictures, family ski outing snapshots, a photo from a desert trek and couples in evening clothes posed by the San Francisco Bay waterfront.

Bagpipes played as the flag-draped coffins of the slain men were carried into the arena and placed behind enlarged photos of the officers mounted on tripod stands. Family members followed behind, and then to seats in the lower section of the arena. Members of the general public were seated in the upper rows.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown were among the dignitaries seated on stage, which was festooned with about two dozen flower arrangements.

"It is with heartfelt sadness yet with a sense of hope that we honor the lives of our fallen brothers," said Father Jayson Landeza, Oakland Police Department chaplain. "As we honor the lives of these fallen, we cherish their legacy ... and offer support to their loved ones."

Landeza read a letter from the White House in which President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama offered condolences. Obama said that the way in which the officers were killed was a reminder that "the work to which they dedicated their lives remains undone."

"Their commitment to their fellow man will never be forgotten," Obama said. "May their sacrifices be rewarded with eternal peace."

Acting Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan praised the slain men as "exemplary police officers" and "brothers." He said their colleagues would remember them by "their smiles, their personalities, their days beginning in the locker room and the time they spent with us."

Sgt. Dunakin, 40, of Tracy, and Hege, 41, of Concord, were motorcycle cops who were killed after they pulled over 26-year-old Lovelle Mixon in a routine stop. Oakland police said he opened fire on the officers almost immediately and fled to a nearby apartment. There, he fatally shot Oakland SWAT officers Romans, 43, of Danville, and Sakai, 35, of Castro Valley. Police then shot and killed Mixon.

Dunakin, the father of three, had handled several assignments during his 18 years with the department, including robbery and homicide. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 1999, according to the police department.

"His colleagues respected his competence," read a statement released by the department before the funeral. "On the street, when Mark handled a homicide, they knew things would go well. He was just that kind of individual."

He was an avid motorcyclist who enjoyed participating in police motorcycle competitions. He joined traffic operations in 2006.

"Everyone who knew him will miss his kindness, his calming presence and his genuine, sincere smile," the statement said.

Hege, a 10-year veteran of the department, worked as a teacher before becoming a police officer. He was hired full time in 1999 after joining in 1993 as a volunteer reserve officer. His lifelong dream was to become a motorcycle officer, which he achieved after patrolling the streets of Oakland for 10 years.

A die-hard Raiders football fan, Hege worked overtime at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum during Raiders home games.

"John gave his heart, soul and seemingly limitless amount of time to the Oakland Police Department," the statement read. "Yet he always made time for his family and friends."

The same was true in death. His organs were donated to save the lives of four people and his tissue will enhance the lives of 50 others, the statement said.

Romans, the father of six, was a 13-year department veteran and served as a drill sergeant in the United States Marine Corps for nine years before joining the Oakland Housing Authority as a police officer. He received the department's highest honor, the Medal of Valor, in 1999 for evacuating residents from a West Oakland fire.

Promoted to the rank of sergeant in 2005, he supervised a crime reduction team. Romans was an avid outdoorsman and an accomplished cook who loved spending time with his family and friends.

"He epitomized the quintessential teacher, mentor and leader," the statement said. "He will be truly missed."

Sakai, the father of one, was a nine-year veteran who joined the department after working for five years as a community service officer with the UC Berkeley Police Department. He was on a crime reduction team and served as a K-9 officer, patrolling the streets with his canine partner Doc. He was promoted to sergeant two years ago.

"His devotion and dedication earned him the respect of his peers, the police statement said. "Friends, family and co-workers will remember him as a great teacher, leader and mentor to all who came in contact with him."


ann.simmons@latimes.com

peter.king@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-oakland-memorial28-2009mar28,0,1156822.story
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« Reply #6 on: March 30, 2009, 10:50:37 am »


Gunman kills eight at US nursing home

REUTERS | Monday, 30 March 2009

A gunman opened fire inside a nursing home in a small North Carolina town, killing eight people, including elderly patients in wheelchairs.

A 45-year-old local man was arrested and faced eight counts of first-degree murder after the shooting at the retirement care home in Carthage, about 60 miles southwest of Raleigh.

"There are eight dead," Moore County District Attorney Maureen Krueger told a news conference. Neither she nor other officials were able to immediately offer a motive for the killings in what was the third major shooting incident in the southeastern United States this month.

Those killed at the Pinelake Health and Rehab Center in Carthage, which offered care for the elderly and Alzheimer's sufferers, included seven patients in their 70s, 80s and 90s, and one 39-year-old staff member, officials said.

"The shooter entered the facility heavily armed and began shooting at people in wheelchairs," WRAL News quoted North Carolina state Senator Harris Blake as saying.

Carthage Police Chief Chris McKenzie told the news conference that the gunman shot 11 people in all. The wounded included a police officer and the arrested suspect, whom McKenzie and Krueger named as Robert Stewart.

Six of the victims died at the scene and two died of their injuries in the hospital.

It was the third major shooting to occur in the southeastern United States in less than a month.

On March 10, a 28-year-old man in Alabama killed 10 people, including his own mother, in a shooting spree that ended when he took his own life.

A few days later in Miami, a man shot and killed four people, including his estranged wife, before taking his own life.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/2300981/Gunman-kills-six-at-US-nursing-home
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guest49
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« Reply #7 on: March 30, 2009, 10:56:50 am »

It must be something in the American psyche.  The Swiss have proved its not the availability of weaponry that is the problem, after all, there is an assault rifle in practically every home in Switzerland.
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« Reply #8 on: March 30, 2009, 12:33:34 pm »


From the Los Angeles Times

3 killed, 3 wounded in shootings in an 8-hour span

California — Local

By JOEL RUBIN | 1:52 PM - Sunday, March 29, 2009

A spasm of gun violence over an eight-hour period in Los Angeles County left at least three men dead and three others injured, police said today.

The first shooting occurred in South Los Angeles around 8:20 p.m. Saturday, when an unidentified person  approached an 18-year-old man in the 2700 block of Naomi Avenue and shot him several times, said Sgt. Rick Arteaga of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Newton station. The victim was taken to a local hospital, where he died. Arteaga said the shooting was gang-related; he declined to provide further details.

Violence then erupted just off of the Santa Monica Freeway around 12:30 a.m. today. Several men, described by witnesses as Latinos in their late teens or early 20s, were cruising the 2600 block of Garth Avenue in a silver Honda Civic when one of them fired a gun at people attending a party on the block, said Officer Rosario Herrera.  A 19-year-old man was hit. The name of the victim, who was transported to a hospital in stable condition, was unknown, Herrera said.

At 1:20 a.m., back in South Los Angeles, a 21-year-old man was wounded by gunfire. The incident occurred in the 1400 block of 43rd Street. The victim, whose name was withheld, was taken to a hospital in stable condition, Herrera said. No other information was available.

The violence in Los Angeles ended shortly before 4 a.m., when a verbal dispute between two men in a bar in the 2000 block of West Manchester Boulevard turned deadly. One of the men shot the other, killing him, Herrera said. Police did not release the name of the victim, pending notification of his family. The shooter fled the scene, according to police.

The violence extended beyond the city limits.

In Santa Fe Springs, a 19-year-old man was approaching the door of a house on Jersey Avenue to attend a birthday party around 9:30 p.m. Saturday when an attacker approached him from behind. The victim was shot five times in the back at close range in what is suspected to be a gang-related attack, said Lt. Carlos Solorza of the Whittier Police Department.

The victim, whose name was withheld, underwent surgery. It was unknown whether he survived his wounds, Solorza said. Police described the shooter as a Latino, about 18 years old, around 5 feet, 10 inches tall and wearing a black sweat shirt and jeans.

And in the Florence area, an unincorporated community bordering South Los Angeles, a man was shot to death around 1:15 a.m. today as he and a friend walked along the 1100 block of 59th Street.

Police said that two Latino men driving a white compact pickup truck pulled up alongside the pair. One of the men in the truck asked, "Where are you from?" and opened fired, according to Sheriff’s Deputy Oscar Butao. The victim, whose name was withheld, was struck several times in the upper body and died at a hospital, Butao said.


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/03/three-killed-th.html
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« Reply #9 on: March 30, 2009, 12:44:35 pm »

Actually, on a per capita basis, there are worse countries.  Its up there at the top of the western world - but then,  what other country has such a vast population of immigrants that come from those very countries that show up at the top of the table?

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_wit_fir_percap-crime-murders-firearms-per-capita
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« Reply #10 on: April 02, 2009, 02:20:19 am »

GUNS
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Are you sick of the bullshit from the sewer stream media spewed out from the usual Ken and Barby dickless talking point look a likes.

If you want to know what's going on in the real world...
And the many things that will personally effect you.
Go to
http://www.infowars.com/

AND WAKE THE F_ _K UP
Kiwithrottlejockey
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« Reply #11 on: April 04, 2009, 11:20:42 am »


From the Los Angeles Times

Binghamton, N.Y., shooting leaves about a dozen people dead

Reports say a gunman entered a building with a high-powered rifle, began shooting, and took hostages. Two men are taken away in restraints.

By MICHAEL MUSKAL | 12:23 PM PDT - Friday, April 03, 2009


In this photo rendered from video and released by WBNG-TV in Binghamton, N.Y., authorities take up positions behind a vehicle. (Associated Press)

In this photo rendered from video and released by WBNG-TV in Binghamton, N.Y., authorities take up positions
behind a vehicle. (Associated Press)



Police carrying shields respond to Binghamton, N.Y., shooting. (WBNG via CNN)

Police carrying shields respond to Binghamton, N.Y., shooting. (WBNG via CNN)


A gunman opened fire today in an immigrant services center in Binghamton, N.Y., killing 13 people, many of whom apparently were studying to become citizens, then turned a handgun on himself, officials said.

Including the gunman, 14 people were dead at the center and at least four people were in critical condition, Police Chief Joseph Zikuski told a televised news conference. Thirty-seven people who were in the building survived the bloody rampage.

The person believed to be the gunman was found dead from a self-inflicted wound with a satchel of ammunition around his neck, Zikuski said. Two handguns were recovered.

The suspect, who was not identified, appeared to have some connection to the American Civic Association building where the shootings took place, he said. There was no indication of motive and the investigation will take time, Mayor Matthew Ryan warned.

"This is a community that comes together in a time of crisis," Ryan said at the news conference.

"Here in Binghamton we probably have the worst tragedy and senseless crime in the history of this city," Gov. David Paterson said at the news conference from the gritty river city, about 150 miles from New York. "We all have a profound sadness and sorrow."

According to Zikuski, the incident began at 10:31 a.m. and was over within minutes.

The gunman barricaded the back door with his car, then entered through the front door and began firing.

The first victim was a receptionist. The other victims were in a room off the entrance. The survivors were hiding in the boiler room, he said. Earlier reports said they were hostages.



Authorities stand watch at the scene of a shooting in Binghamton, N.Y. (Rebecca Cattlett/Press & Sun-Bulletin) A sniper takes a position on a roof near the American Civic Assn. in downtown Binghamton, N.Y. (Rebecca Catlett/Press & Sun-Bulletin)

           Authorities stand watch at the scene of a shooting in Binghamton, N.Y. (left). | A sniper takes a position on a roof
                       near the American Civic Assn. in downtown Binghamton, N.Y. (right). | (Rebecca Catlett/Press & Sun-Bulletin)



The incident appears to have ended about four hours after it began, according to officials. Two men were taken away in restraints, though Mayor Ryan said later the men were not suspects.

Officials from all levels of government expressed their condolences. From Europe where he was traveling, President Obama issued a statement:

"Michelle and I were shocked and deeply saddened to learn about the act of senseless violence in Binghamton, N.Y. today," Obama said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, their families and the people of Binghamton."

Vice President Joe Biden called Ryan and Paterson and pledged the government's resources in dealing with the aftermath.



Rescuers remove a person on a stretcher. (WBNG via CNN)

Rescuers remove a person on a stretcher. (WBNG via CNN)


Bystanders in Binghamton watch the unfolding events. (WBNG via CNN)

Bystanders in Binghamton watch the unfolding events. (WBNG via CNN)


Hostages exit a building near the American Civic Assn. in downtown Binghamton, N.Y., after a shooting spree by a gunman. (Rebecca Catlett/Press & Sun-Bulletin)

Hostages exit a building near the American Civic Assn. in downtown Binghamton, N.Y., after a shooting spree by a gunman.
(Rebecca Catlett/Press & Sun-Bulletin)



The incident shocked Binghamton, a city of about 50,000 people at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango rivers in a region known as the Southern Tier. Once a major industrial region, the area of about a quarter of a million people is now known for nearby Binghamton University.

After the first shots, apartment houses and local businesses were locked down as officials sealed off the area. City SWAT teams and FBI hostage negotiators rushed to the building housing the American Civic Assn.

Video shot at the scene showed armed police eyeing the building as they sealed off the area. Stretchers were shown being rushed to an ambulance.

The center, according to its website, is often crowded with immigrants seeking help dealing with officials or taking classes. It "assists immigrants and refugees with immigration and personal counseling, resettlement, citizenship, family reunification, interpreters, and translators."


michael.muskal@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-binghamton-shooting-hostage4-2009apr04,0,4181574.story
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« Reply #12 on: April 05, 2009, 01:59:18 pm »


From the Los Angeles Times

N.Y. gunman wore body armor, Binghamton police say

Jiverly Wong had seemed angry and depressed recently, relatives tell police. Noting the armor and ammunition, the police chief says Wong might have planned to ‘take on the police’ after the killings.


By BOB DROGIN | 4:12 PM PDT - Saturday, April 04, 2009

JIVERLY WONG (Associated Press/Binghamton Police Department)

JIVERLY WONG (Associated Press/Binghamton Police Department)

Reporting from Binghamton, N.Y. — The gunman who killed 13 people before shooting himself in Binghamton, N.Y., on Friday wore a bulletproof vest and spoke not a word of warning or explanation before opening fire on a class full of immigrants learning English, authorities said Saturday.

Police identified the killer as Jiverly A. Wong, 41, and said he lived with his mother, father and sister in Union, a suburb of this blue-collar city in central New York state. Officials said Wong emigrated from Vietnam in the early 1990s.

Officials said they found no note from Wong and could not say what drove him to the slayings in the American Civic Assn., a nonprofit service center for local immigrants.

But they said Wong had quit an English class at the center in early March, had fought bitterly with his sister at home and recently lost his job at a local Shop-Vac facility.

Police Chief Joseph Zikuski said family members "were not surprised" that Wong had snapped because he appeared angry and depressed in recent months.

"People were making fun of him because of his inability to speak English," Zikuski said at a news conference. "He was upset about that."

He said Wong visited a local shooting range for target practice at least once a week.

Zikuski disclosed that Wong wore body armor during the attack and carried extra magazines of ammunition for his two licensed pistols, a .45-caliber Beretta and a 9-millimeter Beretta.

He said that Wong might have planned to "take on the police" after killing everyone in the downtown center. Wong drove his father's Toyota Camry to the center and parked the car against the back door, presumably to stop anyone from escaping.

After entering through the front door about 10:30 a.m., he shot the two receptionists, killing one. But the other woman, wounded and bleeding, played dead until Wong walked away. She then crawled under a desk and called 911 on her cellphone to alert police.

Wong didn't say a word in the classroom before he started shooting with both guns. He fired more than 32 rounds and hit most of the adult students multiple times. Wong then shot himself as police raced to the scene.

"He was a coward," Zikuski said. "We speculate that he decided to take his own life when he heard the sirens."

He praised the injured receptionist, whose name he did not disclose, as "a hero." She and three others wounded are expected to survive, officials said. Thirty-seven others hid in a boiler room, closets and other classrooms and were uninjured.

"The shooting was over by the time we got there," Zikuski said.

The FBI is trying to compile a psychological profile of Wong, and forensic experts will go through the hard drive of a computer seized from his home.

Wong had no local police record. But state police investigated him in 1999 after a confidential informant reported that Wong was using crack cocaine and planned to rob a bank. No proof was found.

Mayor Matthew T. Ryan said the city had fielded calls from families and foreign government officials in "nine countries and two consulates" seeking information about the victims.

Police identified only one of the victims, the 72-year-old substitute teacher in the class, Roberta King. They said names of others would be released after autopsies were conducted and families notified.


bob.drogin@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-binghamton-shooting5-2009apr05,0,7271187.story
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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« Reply #13 on: April 05, 2009, 02:02:21 pm »



Coming up — the latest mass killing in the gUnhappy States of America, where a GOD-FEARING, GUN-LOVING, NRA-NUT Jesuslander has run amok in the city of Pittsburg with an assault rifle and gunned down FIVE police officers, killing three of them and seriously wounding the other two.

Watch this space for a news article from the Pittsburg Post-Gazette complete with lots of photographs. It will appear as soon as I have reformatted the article with BBC tags for optimum display in SMF-hosted groups.
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« Reply #14 on: April 05, 2009, 02:53:51 pm »


Officers killed, wounded in Stanton Heights, Pittsburg standoff

By Michael Fuoco and Jerome L. Sherman - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | 9:59 AM - Saturday, April 04, 2009


Police officers stand by at the scene on Fairfield Street where three Pittsburgh police officers were killed this morning and two were wounded, after they responded to a domestic call. Tony Tye/Pittsburg Post-Gazette.

Police officers stand by at the scene on Fairfield Street where three Pittsburgh police officers were
killed this morning and two were wounded, after they responded to a domestic call.
— Tony Tye/Pittsburg Post-Gazette.



Three Pittsburgh police officers were killed and two others were injured after a heavily armed man began firing at them as they responded to a domestic call this morning at a home in Stanton Heights.

The 22-year-old suspected shooter, Richard "Pop" Poplawski, who told friends he was wearing a bulletproof vest, surrendered to police about 11 a.m., four hours after the standoff began at 1016 Fairfield St. He was shot several times in the legs and was being treated at UPMC Presbyterian.

City officials this afternoon identified the officers as Stephen Mayhle, a two-year veteran of the force, Eric Kelly, on the job for 14 years, and Paul Sciullo III, also a two-year veteran.

Police said Officer Mayhle was married and had two daughters, ages 3 and 6; Officer Kelly was married and had three daughters, ages 11, 16 and 22; and Officer Sciullo was single and engaged to be married.

One injured officer, 15-year-veteran Timothy McManaway, was treated at a hospital for a bullet wound, and the fifth officer, Brian Jones, suffered a broken leg.

Police Chief Nathan Harper said Mr. Poplawski will be charged with three counts of homicide.

Shortly after 1 p.m., city 911 dispatchers announced that flags in the city would be lowered to half staff and officers were to place black mourning bands over their badges "in honor of our deceased brothers ... lest we forget."


Family members of the suspect in this morning's deadly standoff offer each other comfort at the scene. Tony Tye/Pittsburg Post-Gazette.

Family members of the suspect in this morning's deadly standoff offer each other comfort at the scene.
— Tony Tye/Pittsburg Post-Gazette.



Pittsburg Police Chief Nate Harper addresses the news media following today's fatal shooting of police officers in Fairfield Street, Stanton Heights. Tony Tye/Pittsburg Post-Gazette.

Pittsburg Police Chief Nate Harper addresses the news media following today's fatal shooting of
police officers in Fairfield Street, Stanton Heights. — Tony Tye/Pittsburg Post-Gazette.



The incident began at 7:05 a.m., after officers went to the address and the suspect opened fire, police said.

Chief Harper said three officers initially were wounded when Mr. Poplawski fired an assault rifle. The fourth and fifth officers were injured as they responded to the first shootings, the chief said.

For much of the morning, the standoff forced police to lock down the neighborhood as scores of officers converged on the house, where Mr. Poplawski had barricaded himself. At least one other family member was in the house.

Some of the wounded officers remained for a time where they fell because other officers could not reach them with bullets continuing to fly over their heads, according to Diane Richard, Pittsburgh Police spokeswoman.

A state police helicopter hovered overhead as more than 100 officers from Pittsburgh, the state, the district attorney's office and the Port Authority and the FBI converged along with neighbors and other onlookers.

Authorities as well as members of the suspect's family were in contact with Mr. Poplawski by phone. Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl was among the officials at the scene.


Pittsburg police file up Fairfield Street following a deadly stand-off in Stanton Heights today. Tony Tye/Pittsburg Post-Gazette.

Pittsburg police file up Fairfield Street following a deadly stand-off in Stanton Heights today.
— Tony Tye/Pittsburg Post-Gazette.



Police at the scene in Stanton Heights where a man involved in a domestic dispute opened fire on police with an assault rifle, killing three officers and wounding two others. Tony Tye/Pittsburg Post-Gazette.

Police at the scene in Stanton Heights where a man involved in a domestic dispute opened fire on
police with an assault rifle, killing three officers and wounding two others.
— Tony Tye/Pittsburg Post-Gazette.



A neighbor and longtime friend Joe DiMarco and his mother, Darlene, said they spoke to Mr. Poplawski on the telephone this morning.

"He told me he loved me and that he'd been shot in the chest and leg," Ms. DiMarco said.

Another neighbor, Brian Merlina, said he was getting out of the shower at 7:30 a.m. when he heard rapid-fire gunshots. About 30 minutes later, he heard at least two dozen more shots fired.

Shortly thereafter, the state police helicopter landed in a field near his house. He said he drove a trooper who got out of the helicopter to the scene.

Utility crews cut off power to the house at 10:45 a.m. because they believed Mr. Poplawski was monitoring media reports. He surrendered a short time later.

Drew Stadler, 34, who lives nearby on Oglethorpe Street, said he heard loud bangs around 8 a.m. From his window, he saw Mr. Poplawski pointing what appeared to be a semiautomatic rifle and shooting at officers from a window above the garage of the Fairfield Street house.

SWAT officers were pinned down, with their protective shields up, at an adjacent house.

At one point, the SWAT officers pulled away a wounded officer and dragged him down the street, Mr. Stadler said. He also said he heard potentially hundreds of shots fired throughout the incident.

Other friends said Mr. Poplawski had several guns, including an AK-47 assault-type rifle, a .357 Magnum revolver, a .380-caliber handgun and a .45-caliber handgun. They also said they believed he had not been getting along with his mother.

Mr.Poplawski called Edward Perkovic, a longtime friend and former classmate at North Catholic High School, on a cell phone around 8:30 a.m. Mr. Perkovic said Mr. Poplawski told him he'd been shot in the chest and leg, but that the bulletproof vest he'd been wearing had shielded him.

Mr. Perkovic also said Mr. Poplawski told him: "Eddie, I'm going to die today. Tell your family and friends I love them. This is probably the end."

A burst of gunfire followed, and the call ended, Mr. Perkovic said. A short time later, he said, a city 911 official telephoned him and asked him to come to Fairfield Street and help to negotiate a surrender with Mr. Poplawski.

By the time he arrived there, however, the standoff had ended.

Mr. Perkovic and other former classmates said they were surprised by this morning's events. Mr. Perkovic said Mr. Poplawski was opposed to "Zionist propaganda" and was fearful that his right to own weapons would be taken away but he wasn't a member of an organized group or militia.

"He always said that if someone tried to take his weapons away he would do what his forefathers told him to do and defend himself."

Another friend, Aaron Vire, 23, said he'd helped Mr. Poplawski and Mr. Perkovic with a radio show they'd broadcast on the Internet, discussing "politics, girls and life."


An officer dons his gear as police respond after a man involved in a domestic dispute opened fire on police today in Stanton Heights, killing three officers and injuring two others. Tony Tye/Pittsburg Post-Gazette.

An officer dons his gear as police respond after a man involved in a domestic dispute opened fire on
police today in Stanton Heights, killing three officers and injuring two others.
— Tony Tye/Pittsburg Post-Gazette.



Police from several jurisdictions responded after a man involved in a domestic dispute in the 1000 block of Fairfield Street, Stanton Heights, fired an assault rifle at City of Pittsburg police. Three police officers were killed and two were wounded. Tony Tye/Pittsburg Post-Gazette.

Police from several jurisdictions responded after a man involved in a domestic dispute in the 1000
block of Fairfield Street, Stanton Heights, fired an assault rifle at City of Pittsburg police.
Three police officers were killed and two were wounded. — Tony Tye/Pittsburg Post-Gazette.



Mr. Poplawski had supported Republican candidate John McCain in the presidential election and had "very spirited debates" about Democratic candidate Barack Obama, Mr. Vire said. Mr. Poplawski was opposed to Mr. Obama's election, which he thought would result in the loss of his rights, Mr. Vire said.

"He wasn't a racist but thought some of his amendments were overlooked," Mr. Vire said. Even though Mr. Vire is black and Mr. Poplawski is white, the debates over President Obama did not hurt their friendship, he said.

Mr. Poplawski told him he bought his guns "because he felt the quality of life was being diminished," Mr. Vire said.

"He said he'll be ready if there's ever an invasion of the United States and that he had stockpiled foods and guns for that eventuality."


• More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

mfuoco@post-gazette.com

JSherman@post-gazette.com

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09094/960660-100.stm



Mayor: Sad day in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | 4:58 PM - Saturday, April 04, 2009

Here are comments from Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl this afternoon about the slayings of three city police officers.

He made them to begin a press conference at police headquarters on the North Side.


“Good afternoon everybody.

We are gathered here today on what is truly a tragic and very sorrowful day for the city of Pittsburgh. A senseless and tragic act of violence — a random act of violence — took place this morning on what began as a Pittsburgh beautiful spring morning.

We take pride in this city being a safe city, and we work very hard each and every day to achieve that goal. In order to do that, we ask the men and women in our public safety entities and specifically today in our police department to put their lives on the line and to risk them each and every day.

It is something we talk about that we simply accept, and unfortunately on difficult days like this, the harsh reality is that officers in some cases pay the ultimate sacrifice.

Three officers today did pay that ultimate sacrifice: Officer Stephen Mayhle, Officer Eric Kelly and Officer Paul Scuillo III. Stephen is survived by his wife, Shandra, and their two children, Jennifer and Brooklyn. Eric is survived by his wife, Marena. They had three daughters, Tameka, Autumn and Janelle. And Paul Scuillo III is single. He's survived by his parents, Paul and Julia, and two sisters, Laura and Julia.

We really ask all of Pittsburgh today to embrace, to mourn and to support these families and loved ones of these three officers. In addition, we ask the city of Pittsburgh to embrace, support and mourn our brave police officers, who also put their lives in harm's way this morning on a very difficult, difficult task. They are to be commended. If you see them, if you cross their paths, thank them for the work that they did this morning as well.

I also want to express my thankfulness to law enforcement agencies both locally and across the state and country. We have received condolence calls from [President Obama's] office, from Gov. Rendell, from Sen. Casey, and from my colleague across the state, [Philadelphia] Mayor Nutter. I want to thank all of them

Today has been indeed a very difficult day. This week no doubt will be a very difficult week. But I believe, as Pittsburghers always do, we will get through this. We will unite, we will remain strong, and we will remember these three officers and the ultimate sacrifice that they made. We thank them.

Our thoughts and prayers and condolences are with their families and loved ones.”


http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09094/960666-100.stm
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« Reply #15 on: April 05, 2009, 07:21:12 pm »


From The Seattle Times

Five children slain in Graham-area home

By Seattle Times staff | 11:14 PM - Saturday, April 04, 2009

Five children slain in Graham-area home.

GRAHAM, Pierce County — A 34-year-old man apparently shot and killed his five children in a mobile-home park in the Graham area of Pierce County, then drove to Auburn and killed himself, the Pierce County Sheriff's Office said today.

Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer called the crime scene the worst he has seen in his nine years with the sheriff's office.

"One could only hope they were all asleep when this happened," Troyer said of the children.

The children, ages 7 through 16, were found dead late this afternoon after a relative saw one of the victims through a window at their home in the Deer Run mobile-home park. The 7-year-old was a boy and the girls were 16, 13, 11 and 14 or 15, Troyer said.

The father's body had been found earlier Saturday in a still-running car near the Muckleshoot Casino in Auburn. He had apparently killed himself with a rifle, but left no note in the car, Auburn Police Sgt. Scott Near said.

Troyer said investigators believe the children were killed by their father and Troyer described the killings as a domestic-violence case.

"There's nothing that leads us to believe it wasn't gunshot wounds and it wasn't the father," Troyer said.

Said Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor: "This was not a tragedy. It was a rotten murder. Five innocent kids lost their lives."



A home is ringed with police tape Saturday at trailer park near Graham, Wash., where the bodies of five children were discovered dead in their home Saturday afternoon. TED S WARREN/Associated Press.

A home is ringed with police tape Saturday at trailer park near Graham, Wash., where the bodies of five children were
discovered dead in their home Saturday afternoon. — TED S WARREN/Associated Press.



Penny Slanasburg and Tammy Dettwiler, both of Tacoma, who identified themselves as aunts of the children's mother, arrived at the mobile-home park Saturday night. They identified the father as James Harrison and the mother as Angela Harrison, and said the couple had been together since Angela was 13.

The children were Maxine, Samantha, Jamie, Heather and James Harrison, they said.

They said Angela works at Wal-Mart and James was a diesel mechanic.

Angela Harrison was with the sheriff's department chaplain Saturday evening, but then went to stay with a family member.

Troyer and neighbors said the couple argued loudly late Friday night or early Saturday morning, and the mother left by herself.

Troyer said four of the children were found in bedrooms and one in a bathroom of a home in the 20400 block of 135th Avenue Court East. He said the sheriff's office would be in touch with Orting School District officials and counselors would be made available to classmates of the children on Monday. He said they attended various schools.


A relative of the deceased children is comforted by a Pierce County Sheriff's deputy in Graham, Wash., Saturday. Washington state investigators say five children between 7 and 16 years old have been found dead in a Graham area home and they may have been killed by their father. JOE BARRENTINE/Associated Press.

A relative of the deceased children is comforted by a Pierce County Sheriff's deputy in Graham, Wash., Saturday.
Washington state investigators say five children between 7 and 16 years old have been found dead in a Graham
area home and they may have been killed by their father. — JOE BARRENTINE/Associated Press.



Carolyn and Raymond Bader, who used to live across from the home where the children were found, said they often heard the father screaming and yelling at the children.

The Baders said they called the sheriff's department and Child Protective Services several times with concerns about the family.

"We did all we could to help these kids," Raymond Bader said tonight. "We tried to protect these kids. We did what we could."

Carolyn Bader said a friend had called her with the news of the deaths.

"I couldn't believe he'd actually done it. Do I think he was capable of it? Sure," she said, referring to the father. "It just shocks me. I'm totally shocked. What could five children do that was so bad? I can't imagine what would go through someone's head to make them do something like this."

Dale Lund, another neighbor in the mobile-home park, said the boy who was killed played at times with his grandson and the two shared the same school-bus stop. The boys attended elementary school together, Lund said.

The slain children played in their own yard most of the time, he said.

"They pretty much kept to themselves over there," Lund said of the family.

Lund's wife, Sheree Lund, said, "We're tore up. We're just tore up. Why the kids, you know?"

Lund said the father was considered by neighbors to be "plenty mean" and he "kept a real tight rein on the kids."

Mary Ripplinger, another neighbor, said her children played with the boy who died. "They played tag. They played ball," she said.

Since learning of the killings, Ripplinger said, her five children, ages 6 to 19, keep asking: "How could he do this? How could he do this?

"I didn't know what to tell them," Ripplinger said, breaking into tears. "It's not fair. It's not right at all."

Pastor said the killings represented the worst single-incident slayings in unincorporated Pierce County's history.

The incident is among the worst Western Washington mass slayings.

Last September, Isaac L. Zamora went on a shooting rampage that began in Alger in Skagit County that left six people dead and four wounded.

On Christmas Eve of 2007, six family members were shot and killed at their home in Carnation. Michele Kristen Anderson and her boyfriend, Joseph McEnroe, are charged with murdering Anderson's parents, her brother and his wife and two children, ages 3 and 5.

In July 2006, a Kirkland woman and her two children, ages 3 and 5, and the woman's sister were slain in her home. A neighbor, Conner Schierman, has been charged in the slayings and could face the death penalty if he is convicted.

In March 2006, Kyle Huff, 28, shot and killed six people and wounded two others in a Capitol Hill house where a rave after-party had taken place. After the rampage, Huff fatally shot himself.


• Seattle Times staff reporters Steve Miletich and Sara Jean Green, Times assistant sports editor Bill Reader, Times researcher Gene Balk, the News Tribune of Tacoma and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

• Steve Miletich: smiletich@seattletimes.com

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008986370_websixdead04m.html
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« Reply #16 on: April 05, 2009, 10:38:44 pm »

Here is a timeline of past US shootings:

April 1999 - The Colorado town of Columbine is devastated by the killing of 12 students and a teacher, gunned down by two teenagers at the local school.

March 2001 - A pupil kills two at a school in California.

January 2002 - A student kills three in Grundy, Virginia.

April 2003 - Two killed in a Pennsylvania school.

March 2005 - A schoolboy in Minnesota shoots nine, and then himself.
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October 2006 - A gunman kills three girls at an Amish school in Pennsylvania, and then shoots himself.

April 2007 - The biggest school massacre of them all - at least 22 people are killed at the Virginia Tech campus as a gunman goes on the rampage.

December 2007 - Eight months later, a teenager kills at least nine at a Nebraska department store.

February 2nd 2008 - Five women are shot in a clothing store in Chicago.

February 7th 2008 - A gunman shoots five dead in St Louis before being killed himself.

February 8th 2008 - A nursing student kills two classmates in Baton Rouge, then shoots herself in front of the class.

February 15th 2008 - Six people are killed in a packed lecture hall at North Illinois University,

December 2008 - A man in a Santa suit kills nine guests at a Los Angeles Christmas eve gathering. He then shoots himself.

March 30th 2009 - A gunman opens fire in a small North Carolina nursing home killing eight people, including elderly in wheelchair.

April 4th 2009 - A gunman kills 13 people at an immigration services centre in Binghamton, New York

April 5th 2009 - Three police officers shot dead in a volley of bullets after the gunman believed that the Obama administration was going to take away the right for American citizens to bear arms.

April 5th 2009 - A man in Seattle kills his five children ranging from seven to sixteen years of age before killing himself.

The death toll for these incidents alone - 126 in a decade.

http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/timeline-us-shootings-since-1999-2619502
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« Reply #17 on: April 05, 2009, 10:54:58 pm »

As more people loose thier jobs & homes there maybe a lot more killings
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« Reply #18 on: April 07, 2009, 04:25:43 pm »

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« Reply #19 on: April 08, 2009, 06:35:12 pm »

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« Reply #20 on: April 09, 2009, 07:51:19 pm »



this should probably be in the religion thread or perhaps even in the another child abuse thread but here will do

Mum shoots son at gun range  
Last updated 09:31 09/04/2009
 
 A woman who fatally shot her son then killed herself at a US shooting range said she was the anti-Christ and that she needed to save her son.

In rambling, teary audio recordings left for her boyfriend and authorities, as well as shorter suicide notes, Marie Moore, 44, apologised several times and said repeatedly: "I had to send my son to heaven and myself to hell."

Authorities said Wednesday they still had no motive for the murder-suicide that shocked fellow customers and employees at the Shoot Straight range in Casselberry, about 16 kilometres north of Orlando, on Sunday.

"We have no clue. I don't even want to begin to speculate," said Deputy Chief Bill McNeil of the Casselberry Police Department, Florida.

The gun range's security video shows 20-year-old Mitchell Moore taking aim at a target in a booth when his mother walks up behind him and points a gun at the back of his head. In the next frame, the son is seen falling to the ground and a nearby patron appears to alert others as he points to the unseen carnage.

The gun used was rented at the range.

According to a police report, earlier footage from the surveillance video shows the mother and son taking turns shooting and talking with other customers in the adjacent lane. "They seem to be getting along fine," one of the responding officers said.

The son died at the scene. Marie Moore was still alive when officers arrived at the range but later died at a hospital.

Mitchell's father, Charles Moore, told police that Marie Moore had a history of mental illness and had previously attempted suicide and been involuntarily committed to a mental hospital in 2002 under the state's Baker Act.

Marie Moore refers to the incident in records she left for police and Shoot Straight, saying she spent a year in and out of a "mental home" but insisted: "I'm not sick." Family members found the audio tapes and three suicide notes late Monday and gave them to police.

"I'm sorry to do this in your place of business, but I had to save my son," one message said. "God made me a queen and I failed. I'm a fallen angel. He turned me into the anti-Christ."

Moore said she could have killed only herself but felt she had to "save" her son and do it in a public way so the world could also be saved. "Hopefully when I die, there will 1000 years of peace."

Larry Anderson, a manager at Shoot Straight, said it's unclear whether the Moores had been to the range before, but they weren't regular customers. The range requires that customers fill out a form with a series of questions, including whether they have ever been convicted of a felony or been declared mentally unstable. But it has no way to verify the information.

Working phone numbers for Moore's family members could not be found. According to the police report, Moore's son lived in an apartment with his girlfriend and was due to have dinner with his father the day he died.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/2325966/Mum-shoots-son-at-gun-range
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« Reply #21 on: April 11, 2009, 09:28:49 am »

Two people shot dead at US community college
New 9:08AM Saturday Apr 11, 2009

DEARBORN, Michigan - Police say 2 people have been killed in a shooting at a Michigan community college.


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10566193

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« Reply #22 on: April 11, 2009, 09:31:44 am »

One injured officer, 15-year-veteran Timothy McManaway, was treated at a hospital for a bullet wound, and the fifth officer, Brian Jones, suffered a broken leg.

Tuff lot those Macks are...

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« Reply #23 on: April 11, 2009, 09:32:29 am »

LOL you have relations in the police force?HuhHuhHuhHuh??

HOly heck - do they know about you?
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« Reply #24 on: April 11, 2009, 09:33:45 am »

Lol....Nar - I keep myself under the radar rather well.


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